Darkness and Recovery
by Shmecka
Summary: Delphine is in the dark of the garage, Cosima comes looking for her. Spoilers for 3x10. Slight au. Not sure what Graeme and John are planning on doing to Delphine but if she dies I shall not be happy. Cophine
1. Chapter 1

I don't own orphan black or any characters

Spoilers for 3x10

Black is all I can see. Pain in my entire body is all I feel.

"Delphine!"

Cosima is here. She's here for me. I try to open my eyes

"Cosima, you're here"

I slide back into the black oblivion.

"No! No, don't leave Delphine. Scott!"

I won't Cosima.

I'll try.

I open my eyes in the startling brightness.

As my eyes adjust, I start to look for her

"Cosima?"

"Delphine you're awake" I look to my left and there she is, rushing over to me.

"How are you feeling?" She asks as she pushes the hair off my forehead.

"Where am I? How did you find me? How long has it been?" Cosima stops me by kissing me

"You are at Sarah's, Scott called me after hearing something from Dr. Nealon and it's been 2 weeks."

Cosima's face starts to swim and the world starts to spin and I fall back to the bed in a rush of black and all I can hear is Cosima

"Dephine!" Someone help!"

Let me know what you think


	2. Chapter 2

_Two Weeks Earlier…._

Cosima stood outside Bubbles a while after Delphine left, feeling more confused then she already was. What just happened?

" _Give your sisters my love"_

Cosima stood staring long after the car disappeared from sight. Her hands getting cold and nose slowly losing feeling.

 _*BUZZ* *BUZZ*_

Her phone buzzed and the displayed showed Shay's photo on the screen.

"Shay?"

"Hey Cosima, Delphine was here and she said some stuff. Don't worry, she didn't do anything crazy but I think that we need to talk. Do you want to come over later?"

"I'm at a family thing now, I'll try and make it later."

"Okay, let me know when you are on your way."*car engine in background*

"Shay, where are you?"

"Just at home"

"I thought I heard…"

"See you later tonight" Shay quickly interrupts and hangs up.

Cosima stands there looking at her phone and turns when she hears the door open beside her.

"Hey Cos, what's goin' on?" Sarah asks as she walks out the door

"Delphine was just here but she left and she said to give my sisters her love"

"That's weird, what else did she say?"

"She wants me to keep the genome and Kendall safe."

"Safe from what?"

"She didn't say"

"What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know, keep it safe from whoever is trying to do whatever it is that Delphine is worried about"

"How? The last time you tried that…"

"I DONT KNOW SARAH! okay, I don't know" Cosima cries at Sarah as the tears start to stream down her face.

"It's gonna be okay Cos. We'll figure this out" Sarah wraps her arms around Cosima as she cries.

"How?" a soft whisper escapes Cosima as she leans in Sarah's embrace.

"Together." 

The two keep an arm around each other as they return inside to their family.

Sarah goes back to sit with Art and Siobhan and Cosima sits with Scott and Felix.

"Are you okay?" Scott leans over to Cosima and asks gently

"I will be, there's just some crazy shit going on that I need to sort out."

"Is something going on with Delphine?"

"Why do you ask that?" Cosima asks hurriedly

"I got a message from DYAD saying that I'm to report to someone strange tomorrow."

"When did you get this message?" Cosima's concern is heightened.

"Not too long, maybe 5 minutes. It was while you were outside."

"Can I see, Scott?" Cosima reaches her hand over to Scott.

 **Report to Dr. Nealon's Office**

 **9am sharp tomorrow morning**

 **Due to Dr. Cormier extended leave**

 **You will now report all research to this office**

"I have to go" Cosima yells as drops Scott's phone to the table and rushes out the door of Bubbles without a backward glance. Cosima makes it to the street to Shay's yellow bug she is borrowing before she pulls out her phone to call Delphine's cell.

*RINGRING*

" _The person you have called is unavailable at the moment, please leave a short 10 second message after the tone."_

 _*Beep*_

"Delphine, it's Cosima. I need you to call me the second you get this, please call. I'm worried about you. Let me know you are okay."

Cosima jumped in the car and speed off to the only place she could think that Delphine would be. The DYAD Institute.

The 20 minutes it took Cosima to arrive at DYAD may have been 15 minutes less then any other time this drive would be taken but it seemed like it was 5 hours long.

Cosima parked in the first available spot in the carpark under DYAD and raced to the elevators when she saw Delphine's car, quickly changing directions towards the vehicle, she ran passed a white sedan when she tripped and fell face first into the pavement.

"Shit!" Cosima exclaimed looking back to see what it was that caused her fall and there she was Delphine, lying on her side blood pooling on the ground. Bright red staining the creamy concrete with a slow trickle from Delphine's abdomen.

"No! No, Delphine! Shit, Delphine. Delphine, can you hear me?" Cosima screams at the lifeless body as she shakes her shoulders in an effort to wake Delphine. Cosima places pressure on Delphine's wound in an attempt to stop anymore blood leaving the french women's body. Cosima places as much pressure as she can on her love's body without causing any further damage as she grabs her phone out of her back pocket.

"God damn it, pick up the phone!"

*Click*

"Cosima?"

"Scott, I need you to get to DYAD as fast as you can and bring help. Hurry, it's Delphine, she's hurt. Hurry, Scott."

"Okay, I'm coming right now"

*Click*

Cosima holds Delphine's body as close to her as she can while still applying pressure to the bullet can feel the blood soaking into her clothes despite the tight hold she has on Delphine.

"Delphine, don't leave me please. I love you Delphine, I love you so you can't leave me like this."

"Cosima?…." a faint whisper escapes Delphine's lips as she slowly opens her eyes to look for the source of the voice she longs to hear.

"Delphine, it's me. I'm here, you're going to be okay. Help is coming."

"Je t'aime pour toujours Cosima." Delphine whispers softly while gazing into Cosima's eyes and slowly her eyes roll back and her eyelids close with a gentle sigh.

"don't leave me, stay with me, I love you. Delphine, stay with me. You'll be okay, help is coming" Cosima repeats over and over as she holds Delphine closer and wishes that help will be there soon.

All Delphine can feel is Cosima all around her, her head cradled against Cosima's neck, Cosima's legs curled behind her legs, Cosima's arms wrapped around her middle, her hands pressing into her side holding the pain away and her mouth slowly moving against her ear, whispering the words of comfort again and again _"_ _don_ _'_ _t leave me, stay with me, I love you. Delphine, stay with me._ _You_ _'_ _ll be okay, help is coming_ _._ _"_ These are the last things Delphine feels before the darkness consumes with the faint wailing of sirens in the distance.

Je t'aime pour toujours= i love you forever


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Declarations and Diligency**

The sirens of the ambulance wailed and the lights flashed in the darkness of the night and the never-ending whispers of reassurance from Cosima were the first things that Delphine was aware of. Next came the pain, pain in her side from where she was shot, pain in her head from the hard ground that she hit when she fell and the pain in her heart for Cosima when she died.

 _You won't last the night_

Delphine knew that this would not stop until she was found and killed and buried somewhere no-one could find her. Delphine's eyes were still clamped shut, her breathing accelerated until she was almost at the point of hyperventilation and all that she could hear was the rushing air in and out of her lungs and blood pounding through her veins. Delphine's eye shot open when she felt a hand settle in the middle of her chest to see Cosima with a soft smile on her face and red rimmed eyes as she leaned in closer to Delphine and whispered in her ear.

"You need to calm down before your heart rate gets to high and you have like another blackout which will just totally freak me out but its okay because I know that means that you are awake and that's good but you make me worry when you do that and…what?" Cosima stops and asks as she sees a small smile creep onto Delphine's face after her breathing slowly returns to normal.

"You are very cute when you ramble" Delphine says softly as she smile gets slightly wider then her smile shrinks as a look of dread comes to take its place and she states quite simply

"You should not be here with me, _mon amour._ It is not safe for you to be with me anymore" Delphine says firmly but grabs the hand that Cosima had left placed on her chest and Cosima can see the tears well up in Delphine's tired eyes.

"I'll always be here, nothing you say can make me leave you alone. I love you Delphine" Cosima uttered softly while gently squeezing the hand in her own as leaned in and rest her forehead against Delphine's in a soft manner in place of the embrace she long to share with the French woman and Delphine wanted to share with her little American.

The women stayed like this for a while as the ambulance is racing to the hospital until the ambulance EMT probed the bullet wound in Delphine's side.

" _Merde!_ Ow! What is it that you are doing?" Delphine nearly screams at the man poking her.

"Now that you are awake and aware, I'm checking the wound to see if the bullet is till lodged in the wound or if it went all the way through." The man explains calmly

"Well? Which is it?" Cosima asks impatiently

"The bullet went all the way through which is good but Ms. Cormier is still in danger, we won't know how much damage has occurred until we get to the hospital." The man informs Cosima.

The small woman rests her forehead back to Delphine's and breathes a small sigh of relief. Delphine closes her eyes and relaxes against her love, maybe she relaxed a bit to much. The world started spinning behind her eyelids, even though they were closed, she feels her body slipping backwards, away from the contact with Cosima and against the stretcher she was on. She tried to open her eyes as they rolled back and the darkness took over once again. The last thing she hear was Cosima's worried voice reaching out to her in the abyss.

" _Delphine!"_

 **Early the next morning**

The rhythmic beeping sounded throughout the room, coupled with the quiet inhalations and soft exhalations of Delphine had sent Cosima into a light sleep on the chair next to the hospital bed as she had a gentle hold on Delphine's free hand. Cosima dreamed of simpler times when they were together at her lab classes and when they stole Leekie's wine from the neolution lecture. A soft smile graced the face of the American as she dreamed, a subtle change in the breathing from asleep to awake startled Cosima from her dozing. Cosima stares in the brown eyes that she had longed to see open after they suddenly slid closed in the ambulance.

 _"que se passe-t-il? pourquoi suis-je ici? ce qui est dans mon nez? tout fait mal."_ Delphine rushed in french as she was staring back at the brown eyes of her love.

"Delphine, I understood basically one percent of what you just said. Calm down and say again" Cosima said to Delphine as she raised her hand to Delphine's face and left her hand to cup Delphine's cheek.

"It hurts" Delphine sobbed as tears started to well in her eyes.

"I know, I know but the nurses can help. I can call them?" Cosima whispered reassuringly as she leaned slightly towards the call button

 _"Non, non._ Don't, please no. Just come here" Delphine reached for Cosima and pulled her down to lie her head next to her own as the tears flowed freely down her face. "Just stay with me a little while longer" Delphine breathed into Cosima's neck

"I'll stay with you, no matter what." She says into Delphine's ear as she nuzzles Cosima's neck. Delphine's breathing slowly calmed into a slow, deep rhythm signally to Cosima that her bruised and batted puppy had once again fallen asleep. Cosima laid on the bed with the French women curled around her for a while longer and the tear marks on Delphine's face had long dried and the small dread-locked woman was lulled into a comfortable slumber by the rhythmic breathing and beeping.

 **Later that day**

Cosima awoke later that day with a gentle breathe to find Delphine cuddled on top and around her with a soft smile of contentment on her tired face. Cosima genteelly stroked the sleeping woman's face with loving tenderness before moving her hand to stroke the fluffy blonde hair that adorned the french woman's head. _Her puppy_ she thought as she continued absentmindedly stroking the hair, lost in thought.

"Hmmm, _c'est bien_ " Delphine mumbled as she was pulled from unconsciousness by the gently stroking of her hair. Delphine started at the brightness, shutting her eyes as Cosima rambles.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you but to be fair your hair was like right there and it has been a while since I've had a chance to just lie in bed with you which by the way is quite uncomfortable considering that people are here to rest and recover…"

"Shhh, it is fine" Delphine interrupted the woman's rambling and nuzzled closer to the smaller woman, sighing against the soft skin of Cosima's neck

"How are you feeling?" Cosima questioned the blonde woman.

" _mieux_ , better than before" Delphine said in a quiet voice.

"The doctors should be back in to see you soon" Cosima reassured her as she sat up a little to accommodate the injured woman to sit upright.

"Okay, have they said anything to you?" She said as she sat up, still keeping herself firmly on Cosima.

"Not much, just that surgery went well and they would be back to check on you and tell you what happened later." Cosima said calmly but Delphine could sense some underlying tension in her voice.

"What is wrong, _mon cher_?" She questioned as she lifted her head to see in her love's eyes

"They won't tell me anything because I'm not a family member but we are, I love you" The tears now were in Cosima's eyes threatening to spill at any second.

"I know, I feel the same way. _Je t_ _'_ _aime_ _aussi_." Delphine leaned her face towards Cosima's as she gently placed her hands on her cheeks. Cosima closed the distance between them within a few seconds and tentatively captured Delphine's lips in a soft peck before pulling back. Delphine tried to keep Cosima within kissing distance but her injury has left her too weak to form any real protest that will keep Cosima close. Delphine's hands fell limply to her lap as Cosima went to exit the hospital bed to rejoin the chair that had been her spot for the past day before she joined Delphine on her bed. Delphine looks at Cosima with a smile starting to emerge, reaches over and grab Cosima's hand and clasps it tight between her hands trying to convey how much she needs her.

"Whatever comes, we will deal with it together" Delphine says firmly to her darling as she squeezes the small hand between her own. Cosima leans over and gives Delphine a gentle peak.

"Together" The two agree and sit in quiet company until the doctor comes to see Delphine.

What should happen next? Good news or bad news? Let me know or I decide

French translation

mon amour = my love

Merde! = Shit!

que se passe-t-il? = what is going on?

pourquoi suis-je ici = why am i here?

ce qui est dans mon nez? = what is in my nose?

tout fait mal = everything hurts

c'est bien = that's nice

mieux = better

mon cher = my dear

Je t'aime aussi = i love you too


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 : Evasions and Examinations

 _A few days later_

The doctors had come in shortly after the nurses had brought Delphine dinner, they told her all about the injuries that she had sustained - cracked ribs, laceration to the liver and damage to the gall badder from the bullet entry wound and a cracked skull with a slight concussion- from the shooting and the fall onto the concrete plus the blood loss from the wound while waiting to get to the hospital. The doctors expressed praise and gratitude to Cosima for the help that she had given Delphine as without she would have died and that brought home the reality that was Delphine's close brush with death and how close Cosima had been to losing Delphine. All the damage meant close observation and if any complications occurred the recovery would be impacted. The concussion and cracked skull were the biggest issues at the moment and these required their attention but they were worried about infection at the wound also. The doctors had told the both of them that Cosima would be able to take Delphine home by the end of week if no complications occurred before then but if anything happened when she left, she would have to come back.

Delphine was in higher spirits after the doctors told her that she could go home with Cosima. Cosima, too, was excited that Delphine should be able to go home by the end of the week. Both women were a bit apprehensive around each other, both skirting the hard conversation that they needed to have soon. Cosima had been getting phone calls frequently from whom she could only assume was Shay, Cosima never said who it was before hastily pressing the ignore button. She got phone calls from Felix and Alison and almost always answered those and took the calls in front of her. Delphine was getting more than a little worried, Cosima never left her side and never answered the phone calls Delphine assumed were from Shay, like she knew what happened in the garage that night at DYAD. Delphine was worried how to approach a conversation about this so she started with something simple, like the fact that Cosima hadn't left the hospital in 4 days.

" _C_ _h_ _é_ _ri_ , why don't you go home and have shower and change your clothes?"

"Oh I see, you think I smell" Cosima smirked

"Non, non. It's just you have been here since I was admitted and you haven't, I thought you might like to go home for a bit." Delphine said uneasily while looking at her lap.

"Hey, it's cool. I was just joking, you know me. Obvs, just joking. What's up? You want me to take a shower?" Cosima smirked wider and grabbed one of Delphine's hands and gently rubbed her thumb across her knuckles in an effort to get her to relax.

"Non, I just don't want you to think that you have to stay here with me, if you don't want to or you have somewhere else to be or someone to go home to." Still looking at her lap, Delphine mumbled.

"I get it, you're jealous of Shay" Delphine kept looking at her lap, a slight blush and a nearly imperceivable narrowing of her eyes at the mention of Shay's name. Cosima pulled her face up by her chin to make Delphine look at her. "You have nothing to worry about I am here for you, I am with you. I just have to tell Shay that since she doesn't seem to be getting the message. I will go back to Felix's and grab a bath, change my clothes as you seem so concerned about my state of dress" This earned Cosima a small smile "and I will come back with some actual food that both you and I will love rather than the crap they are passing off as food here. I will be back soon, okay?" Cosima kissed Delphine lightly on the lips and then smiled before leaving the room.

Delphine was glad she had some alone so that she can think about all that had happened in the past days. She contemplated if she should tell Cosima who it was that shot her or if she should keep it to herself, after all it was Delphine's shooting and not Cosima's but could she put Cosima in danger by not telling her the truth about who had shot her. They had talked about the shooting a little bit but nothing specific. Delphine thought that a shower might do her some good rather than just staring at the walls for the few hours that it took Cosima to get back. Delphine stood cautiously and made her way slowly to the bathroom adjoining her hospital room, each step hurt like a knife to the side but she kept moving knowing that once she was in the shower it would be worth it. She finally made it to the bathroom after the torturous five minutes it took for Delphine to make it to the bathroom, she was exhausted and glad to see that shower with a ledge to sit down on while she bathed. Delphine took off the hospital gown with the ever so flattering gap in the back and turn the water on waiting for the heat to come on, sitting on the little shelf in the shower area. Delphine left out a relaxing sigh and tilted her head to rest against the tiled wall, breathing in the steam. She took her time washing her hair and herself with the products provided by the hospital before leaning back against the wall in exhaustion and slowly felt her eyes sliding shut.

Cosima reluctantly left Delphine's hospital room and shut the door behind her, nodding to Art who had been sitting guard outside the room in case anyone tries to get at Delphine to finish off the job. No-one suspicious had come near the room, the only other person who had been by was Shay and once Art told her that it wasn't appropriate for her to be here, she left. Cosima called Alison who was somewhat close by to come and get her and take her to Felix's to change and bathe. She would be there any minute. Cosima called Shay as she walked out the doors to the hospital, it rang. It rang again. The voicemail kicked in after 10 rings.

"Hi, you've reached Shay Dovydov. Leave your name and number at the beep and I'll get back to you soon.*Beep*"

"Shay, It's me. We need to talk. Call me when you get this." Cosima said with less confidence then she wished she had. She made her way to the curb where Alison was waiting for her. Cosima plopped into the car and reached to put her belt on. She had it clicked in no time and went to stare at her lap to avoid the conversation she knew was coming.

"So, you're back with Delphine?" Alison said as she started to drive away from the entrance to the hospital.

"Yeah, no. I don't know what I am with anyone." Cosima said and stared out the windscreen squinting at the brightness.

"Rightio, then. So, clean clothes and a shower?" Alison queried

"Yeah, for sure. I want to pick up some food for Delphine and me before I go back. I have to see Shay at some point too and probably see Sarah too. How's everyone?" Cosima said as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes as she lent her head against the headrest.

"Everyone is fine, you will have to wait a while before you see Sarah though, she has gone to Kira with Siobhan and they took Kendall too. So it's been pretty quiet around here. How long has it been since you slept? You look terrible."

"I will sleep once I have figured everything out and Delphine isn't in danger and no-one is dying. And I did sleep enough, last night. Most nights in fact" Cosima stated still with her eyes closed.

"Did you sleep in the bed with Delphine? In a chair next to Delphine?" Alison asked, concern audible in her tone.

Cosima huffed "Obvs. Where else would I have slept?" sarcasm dripping in her tone.

"You can't keep doing this, you aren't long well yourself and if you get run down, you could get sick again and no-one wants that. You need to take of yourself too." The motherly instinct taking over Alison. She grabbed Cosima's hand and rubbed it gently before releasing it and returning her hand to the steering wheel. Cosima started awake when the car pulled to a stop in the alley behind Felix's apartment. Cosima rubbed her eyes and slipped the forgot glasses from her lap, onto her face. Cosima turned to look at Alison who had turned off the engine and looked at Cosima.

"You got enough sleep, did you?" Alison asked while turning to get out of the car.

"Okay, so i'm tired. So what? Dolphins in the hospital after some maniac shot her and left her for dead. I can catch up on sleep when we can sleep comfortable and without the threat of someone trying to kill my puppy." Cosima ranted as she walked upstairs ahead of Alison. Alison stopped behind Cosima suddenly and pulled her backwards with a confused look on her face.

"Did you just call Delphine your puppy?" Cosima blushed

"What? No, of course not. I called her Delphine, Obvs. Maybe you haven't had enough sleep."

The distraction worked. "I slept an adequate amount last night, thank you very much." Alison seemed slightly outraged at such a claim. Cosima smirked at the heavy metal door of Felix's apartment as she opened it. Felix was nowhere to be seen, Alison sat down on the couch after doing a quick once over of it's cleanliness as Cosima headed straight for the bathroom.

Cosima bathed quickly and got dressed even faster, Alison sprung to her feet and straightened her clothes before looking at Cosima.

"Ready to go?" Alison enquired

"Yeah, we just need to make a quick stop to the grocery shop and then back to the hospital please, my sister." Cosima gathered her bag and placed it on her shoulder, shutting the door as they left.

Delphine woke later, not sure how long had past. She dressed in a clean hospital robe that was waiting in the bathroom clearly for situations such as these. Delphine could not find any clean underwear so she just went to start the short yet seemingly long journey back to bed. She braced herself against the door and opened it by leaning against it. Delphine struggled over to the bed and was three quarters of the way there when the door opened and she froze on the spot like a deer in the headlights.

"What are you doing out of bed, Dr. Cormier? You know that you need rest." Cosima said as she lent with hand on hip.

" _Si,_ I had a shower, I thought that cleansing the body is good for healing and for you. I'm sure that you agree that smelling good is an ingredient for sharing a bed." Delphine rambled as she stood still while Cosima approached her slowly, nodding along to her speech. When Cosima made it to in front of Delphine, she wrapped her arms gently around her and gave her a peck on the lips before burying her face in Delphine's neck and inhaled deeply, making Delphine shiver against her and relaxed into her embrace. Cosima gently manoeuvred them towards the bed and made Delphine sit down. Delphine sat but didn't release Cosima and her face was currently buried in the brunette's stomach and arms secured around her waist.

"I love your hair when its curly like this." Cosima mumbled into the slightly damp hair. "Did you change the dressing on your wound after your shower?" Cosima queried

"Non, I didn't even think about that. Perhaps we should call the nurse to check it"

"Or I could have a quick look?" Cosima suggested and Delphine looked up from Cosima's stomach

"Oui." Delphine made no move to change her position. Cosima moved her hands to the blonde's shoulders and gently pushed until she was lying back against the hospital bed. Cosima leant closer to reach the bottom of Delphine's gown, Delphine's hand slapped onto Cosima's in a sudden recollection of the decision she made in the bathroom. Delphine blushed and looked away.

"What's wrong?" Cosima asked concernedly, pulling Delphine's chin to look in her direction.

" _J_ _e ne ai pas sous-v_ _ê_ _tements_ _._ " Delphine says quietly looking away once more.

"As much as I love when you speak french, I have no clue what you are saying. So please, in english, what is wrong?" Cosima leans closer to Delphine so she can whisper in her ear.

"I don't have any underwear on." Delphine whispered in her love's ear as she blushed an even brighter red. Cosima wrapped her arms around the blonde woman and whispered in her ear.

"Don't tease me now." The simple statement said through a cheeky smile took the tension out of the air and made Delphine smile and laugh back at the brunette before she continued "I brought you some so you could shower but you beat me to the whole shower." Delphine chuckled.

"Bien, merci" Delphine said and Cosima retrieved the pair from the bags she brought and went to slip them on for her wounded puppy.

"Normally, I would complain that I'm doing this in reverse but under the circumstances I will refrain." Cosima said softly and smirked sideways at Delphine, slipping them all the way up her legs and settling them on her hips. Cosima continue to pull the gown up, now that Delphine was suitably clothed for the examination of her wound dressing. The dressing was completely soaked through and would definitely need to be changed soon, lest the wound become infected.

"I will call the nurses to change the dressing" Cosima said as she pushed the call button behind Delphine's head on the wall above the bed. The beep of the call button was loud in the quiet room.

"Stay with me." Delphine phrased it more like a statement then a question and Cosima merely nodded at the woman in the bed, looking lost and little.

"Obvs" Cosima said and sealed her promise with a kiss. The door opened and a nurse walked into the room and looked towards the two women on the bed.

"Yes? What can I help you with?" The short women asked slightly displeasure in her voice.

"She has gotten her dressing wet and it is in need of a change please." Cosima said sweetly to annoy the woman a little, _she is quite rude considering her job is to help sick people_ , Cosima thought to herself. The woman huffed and left the room to retrieve the necessary items for a dressing change. Cosima looked at Delphine and smiled before putting the chair next the bed and sitting down, reaching over to hold Delphine's hand while they waited for the angry nurse to return.

 _C_ _h_ _é_ _ri_ _= Darling_

 _Si = So_

 _Oui = yes_

 _J_ _e ne ai pas sous-v_ _ê_ _tements_ _= I don't have any underwear on_

 _Bien_ _,_ _merci_ _= Good, thank you_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Fighting and Families

 _A few days later…_

Cosima had been away from the hospital less than 2 hours before returning after Delphine once again pushed her out the door so that she could change and bathe. Cosima arrived in the carpark of the hospital to find Shay getting out the car behind Cosima, like she had follow Cosima. Cosima approached the woman with caution, not sure how she would respond with the amount of times she had been sent away from trying to get into Delphine's room. Shay had never returned the message that Cosima had left last week or the ones following, repeating the same message to the hard to reach woman. Cosima had stopped leaving messages after the fifth phone call that had gone unanswered once again. Shay clearly had finally something to say to the scientist. Shay had her sunglasses on and her hat covering her hair, Cosima knew that Shay had seen her. The woman's stance stiffened and straightened infinitesimally that if someone else other than Cosima had been watching her, they would not have noticed a change. Cosima adjusted her stance as well to prepare herself for the confrontation that was looming on the horizon. Cosima stopped when she was within a few feet of the shorter woman. Shay reached out to grasp the brunette's hand but Cosima shook her off before she could find a firm hold.

"What are you doing here? Why haven't you returned any of my phone calls? I left you multiple messages." Cosima said coldly with no small talk.

"I came to see you because you wanted to talk and I thought if you were breaking up with me, you should do it to my face and not over the phone like a coward. As I got to your place, you drove away so I followed you but when we pulled I was concerned" Shay returned with equal chill.

"I am here for Delphine."

"Delphine is in the hospital?" Shay had the nerve to pretended that she did know.

"Delphine is in the hospital, someone shot her." Cosima stated knowing that Shay had tried to go to into Delphine's room before. "What about those times when you came to Delphine's room at this hospital? Explain that." Cosima said while she crossed her arms across her chest, standing firm. Shay looked confused like she didn't think that Cosima would know about her trips to see Delphine or to the hospital.

"I don't know what you are on about, I am only here to see you. Someone told me you were here so I asked at the nurses station if you were in one of the rooms so I could see you but someone at the door stopped me from coming. I tried a few more times so I could see you but the person at the door would never let me in." Shay reached out to Cosima, trying to convey the importance of what she was trying to say to the brunette but she was having none of it.

"Shay, this is over, whatever this is or you think that this is. I can't be with you when I love someone else." Cosima said and moved away from the woman in a show that she was adamant about what she was saying. "This ends here and I'm sorry that I lead you on, that maybe this could be something more than what it was but no-more."

Shay looked perplexed and tried to get close to Cosima but Cosima pulled away, starting towards the hospital. The conversation continued with Shay trying all sorts of different tactics to keep Cosima from returning to Delphine, the short blonde exclaiming her own love to the brunette. The conversation ended with Shay crying over Cosima leaving and Cosima apologising about everything. Cosima walked away with a lighter feeling and a spring in her step as she approached the room that held the woman she longed to see if even it had only been a few hours.

Delphine was sitting up in bed, talking with the doctor that had been assigned to her for the duration of her stay and would follow her recovery. Delphine glanced at the door as it opened, she beamed when she saw who it was.

"Sorry, always late." Cosima said as she smiled. The short woman crossed the distance quickly coming to a stop, grasping her love's hand and looking at the doctor expectantly.

" _Mon amour_ , you are always late and always sorry." Delphine said as she smiled at woman who grinned back and she squeezed the hand holding hers. "You will never guess what the doctor is here to do." Delphine challenged and Cosima responded the way Delphine hoped.

"Hmm, he is here to tell you that you won the lottery and the hospital now belongs to you."

"Not quite _ma ch_ _é_ _rie_ _._ You get to take me home today as soon as the nurses check everything." Delphine couldn't control her joy and Cosima soon followed. Cosima thanked the doctor and went to kiss Delphine passionately and a moment into the kiss, she remembered the doctor and broke off the kiss. Cosima and Delphine reluctantly returned their attention to the doctor who was looking at the floor embarrassed.

"I'll just leave your discharge papers here and come back later." The doctor said as he retreated from the room leaving the two woman alone to celebrate.

Delphine was finally out the hospital and asleep in bed with Cosima. The day began early to get all things ready for Delphine to be discharged. The doctors came to check on her and were happy with her recovery and once she had her dressing checked by the nurse she could go. The blonde required another dressing change before she was allowed to go home The long week and a bit in the hospital was strenuous on all of them as Delphine was never comfortable with Art or someone always outside the door, Cosima and everyone else were never comfortable with having Delphine vulnerable to the person who harmed her. The day had been long but finally everything was over with Shay and she could be with Delphine without any more guilt about their relationship. Cosima snuggled close to the sleeping blonde as she fell into a deep slumber, finally after a long day of getting Delphine out of the hospital.

Cosima dreamed of the day that she and Delphine had first made love,

 _Cosima was lying back against the pillow and leant over to see Delphine crying. Cosima tried to get her attention and ask her what was wrong. Delphine was crying and nothing Cosima could say would make her respond, she tried to grasp her hand but that would not console her. Cosima ran both hands up to the blonde's face, the tears streamed down her cheeks in never-ending rivers. Cosima tried to comfort her but the crying only became louder and started to turn into screeches._

A sudden cry caused Cosima to be jolted awake and find the woman she was snuggled into early sobbing loudly, occasionally it sound similar to Cosima's name. The tears were flowing as they did in Cosima's dream. The french woman was clearly distraught about her dream, immediately Cosima tried to wake the crying woman, trying to say comforting words to her but the sound of her cries were drowning out anything that Cosima tried to say.

 _Delphine woke alone in the hospital and glanced at the chair that normally would be home to Cosima. "Cosima, where are you?" No reply came. "Cosima?" She was no where to be seen and all the doors to the room were closed. She tried to scream but no sound escaped her mouth. She tried to get out of the bed but her legs won't respond with any movement. She tried to throw herself over the bed with her arms and hit the floor with a loud thud. She tried to stand but couldn't. She began to pull herself towards the door with her arms. Each movement was excruciating, every tiny movement caused pain through her side. Delphine knew if she looked at her side, crimson would be slowly staining her hospital gown. She continued on towards the door, silently screaming for anyone to help her, for Cosima to find her. The longer she continued, the further away the door seemed. She went on trying for what seemed like hours before the door finally got close. Delphine noticed the tears running down her cheeks but paid them no attention, the sobs that shook her chest made no sound. Delphine continued on towards the door. As Delphine reached for the door handle, the door started to slide open. Delphine saw a hand reach around the door to open, but she was not expecting who walked through the door. The gun in the woman's hand was ready to fire and all that could be heard was a cheery "Hello, Delphine" before the gun went off and pain exploded in Delphine's rib cage. The force of the gunshot pushed her to the ground which was slowly getting wet with Delphine's blood. The short woman leaned over Delphine as she was gasping for breath as it was slowly getting harder to continue breathing. The woman whispered "She is mine now" into Delphine's ear and the world was once again black._

Delphine awoke with her arms wrapped around Cosima, squeezing her tight and continuing to try and wake Delphine up whilst saying comforting things. Cosima notices that Delphine is now awake as she is being clutched tighter than before and the sobs turn into gentle whimpers as Delphine becomes more aware of her surroundings. Delphine's whimpers turned into whispers of only one phrase that she began to repeat over again getting progressively louder until Cosima could hear.

" _Cosima , s'il vous pla_ _î_ _t. Je suis d_ _é_ _sol_ _é_ _. Ne me fais pas partir, je ne peux pas vivre sans toi. Je t_ _'_ _aime._ _"_ Cosima finally was able to hear her when her words became more words and less sobs, She could pick out some of what Delphine was in french but not enough to understand. Cosima adjusted herself so that she was wrapped around the blonde still but she could look into her face and hold her. Cosima kissed her so she would stop repeat what she doesn't understand and says to Delphine in a loving voice.

"I love you too, especially when you are speaking french but as we discussed last week, I cannot understand you so please. What is wrong?" Cosima kept her hands on the blonde woman's cheeks so that Delphine was looking into her eyes.

"I can't be without you, I never want to leave you. Please don't make me leave ever." The tears were once again gathering in the french woman's eyes. Delphine tried to free her face so that she could get back to the safety of Cosima's neck and her arms could find the spot around her waist being held tight enough so that she could be anchored to that spot forever. Cosima had other ideas and held her tight, looking straight into her eyes with a passion in her eyes. Delphine looked back with a weakness that Cosima had not seen since that time in her apartment when she found out Delphine's deceit and partnership with Leeke.

"I don't think that I have it in me to ever let you leave, let alone make you leave me. I love you too much and I think that we have spent enough time apart to last us for the rest of our lifetime. Do you understand that you never get to leave me now?" Cosima smiled at Delphine as she nodded at the shorter woman. Cosima finally relinquished the hold she had on Delphine and Delphine moved swiftly to the position she craved to be in. Cosima let them fall back slightly to be resting against the headboard of the bed. They stayed in this position for a while, both returning their breathing patterns back to normal. Cosima was the first to break the comfortable silence.

"Do you want to tell what happened while you were asleep?"

" _Non._ " Delphine replied quietly into Cosima's neck.

"Are you sure? You were pretty rattled by whatever it was you were dreaming of?"

"Ok, I have a dream that I was alone in the hospital and I couldn't move and I couldn't see you so I called for you but you did not come or say anything. I tried to scream but no sound came and I tried to move but I couldn't. I crawled to the door and then….walked in.… and I…. then…." Delphine trailed off as her voice got less and less until it was inaudible. Cosima was confused on the last bit.

"Who walked in?"

"The person who shot me" Delphine said quietly

"YOU KNOW WHO SHOT YOU?" Cosima nearly screeched at Delphine, scaring the blonde into jumping in fright. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you but you never told me who it was that shot you."

"I know. I didn't want to tell you who it was."

"Well, you kinda have to tell me now. Please." Cosima said almost in an tone that Delphine couldn't ignore. Delphine was quiet for another moment.

"It was Shay, in my dream. She wanted to get rid of me to get closer to you. It was her in the garage that night. I thought that the neolutionists, or who ever was behind this, would send someone else but I guess she was the best to kill me."

"SHAY!" Cosima did scream this time and looked at the woman she loved like she was crazy

"I didn't want to alarm you and I didn't think that she would cause any problems anymore after her job was done." Delphine stated and tried to calm Cosima but it didn't work.

"Really? That is what you are going to say? You really don't get it, do you? I love you and I'm not leaving. You were the one that left me anyway, again and again you leave me and I'm stuck with a hole in my heart that I have to repair by myself."

"You made me leave first so don't say that I leave you when you make me or I have to go. You don't know how much my heart broke every time that I had to leave. I love you so much that I think most days that my heart will burst when I am with you and when I am not with you, _mon c_ _œ_ _ur_ aches for you. I thought I was never going to be whole again but _j_ _e vous ai pour l_ _'_ _instant_ and I can't imagine what would happen if we are apart again, it will break me." Cosima let her have her say before leaning over to grasp her face and softly speak.

"Are you done?" Delphine nodded "I felt the same way and I feel the same way about us so let's say that from now on, we face the world together and never again will we be apart." Delphine nodded continuously along with the American and grabbed whatever she reached first and pulled so that all the space between them disappeared. They lingered in this position long after their hearts and breathing returned to normal when a soft whisper broke the comfortable silence.

"Why don't we make it official? Will you marry me?"

mon amour= my love

ma chérie = my dearie

Cosima , s'il vous plaît . Je suis désolé. Ne me fais pas partir, je ne peux pas vivre sans toi . Je t'aime . = Cosima, please. I'm sorry. Don't make me leave, I can't be without you. I love you.

mon cœur = my heart

Je vous ai pour l'instant = I have you for now


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Gains and Loses

" _Why don't we make it official? Will you marry me?"_

Delphine was looking at Cosima with a hopeful look on her face, Cosima was looking back with a look of surprise frozen on her face. Delphine's face slowly began to drop as the time ticked on, Cosima hadn't said anything yet and Delphine was losing hope. Maybe she had said jumped to conclusions? _Maybe this isn_ _'_ _t what Cosima wants?_ Cosima unfroze and jumped slightly, startling Delphine and herself as she returned to the conversation from the internal monologue that had sucked her away from the real world for a moment.

"Yes! Yes, obvs! I love you, duh. I totally want to marry you." The smile returned back and the blonde pulled the smaller woman in closer for a kiss, slow and gentle.

" _Why don't we make it official? Will you marry me?"_

Cosima's mind reeled at the blonde's proposal, her mind running a million miles a minute. Cosima had noticed things that were slightly concerning and probably getting more concerning as the week went on. She had noticed a increasing tightness in her chest and the urge to cough was getting worse, she knew that something was happening and it wasn't for the better. Cosima's symptoms were returning. The genome could be the answer but can she make Delphine watch her deteriorate and quite possibly die before she finds a cure. Shit. Delphine just asked Cosima to marry her and she hadn't replied yet. Coming back down to earth, Cosima looked at Delphine's face and burst into action before she ruined everything by taking too much time.

"Yes! Yes, obvs! I love you, duh. I totally want to marry you." Cosima said with a smile on her face and a smile burst onto Delphine's face almost in sync with her now fiancé and the love between become it's own presence and the blonde pulled her fiancé in for a gentle kiss before things grew more passionate.

Cosima laid in bed after a long night following the impromptu engagement, Delphine still tires easily so after a long make out session and enough getting caught up in the heat of the moment, they were both wearing no clothing but as Delphine was still healing, Cosima didn't let it go much further. Delphine was nestled comfortably on Cosima's chest with her arms lightly wrapped around her fiancé's waist after falling asleep on in the same position. Delphine spent the night dreaming of the past, replaying their relationship from the day they met in the lab. Delphine crying against the wall and Cosima coming to comfort the french woman. The whole relationship played out in her mind. Cosima sat listening to Delphine's sleep-induced deep breathing and lightly stroking the blonde's fluffy hair, reminiscing about the change in Delphine's hair in the past few months and how glad she is to have it back to the fluffy puppy hair that she has loved from the moment she saw her from across the lab. Cosima continued to absentmindedly stroke Delphine's hair for must have been hours. Cosima struggled to keep the cough that was bubbling in her chest from bursting out because she had a feeling that once she started coughing she wouldn't stop for a time, she had been hiding this from Delphine and all of her sisters. Kira's stem cells had made her better but they need to be repeated and to do that they need to get more but Cosima could not put Kira through the procedure again and they haven't come up with any alternatives yet, the genome of Siobhan's mother could be the answer combining it with Ethan Duncan's research but she needs a lab and time and one thing Cosima is not sure about is how much time she has left. Cosima wants to spend every last second that she has left with Delphine, she isn't really sure how she is going to bring all this up. Maybe later, definitely not now when she had just accepted Delphine's proposal and they were enjoying the bliss that comes with that. Cosima started to cough, just a few small coughs. The jostling of her coughing had woken Delphine who hummed and nuzzled into her chest, Delphine smiled as she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked into Cosima's face with the realisation of what woke her from sleep was Cosima coughing, Delphine began to worry.

" _Mon cher,_ are you feeling okay?" The look of worry was so clear on Delphine's face that Cosima was shocked.

"I'm just feeling a bit unwell today but don't worry, you can go back to sleep." Cosima tried to brush off Delphine's concern about her health. Delphine nodded and moved herself so that she was lying next to Cosima instead of actually on top of her. Delphine intertwined their hands and starts to brush her thumb gently across Cosima's palm. Delphine nudges her shoulder against Cosima's.

"Are you sure, _mon amour_? We can call Scott to start setting up the lab for us to come back and begin research with the genome."

"I don't know if we can go back to DYAD, its most likely going to crawling with neolutionists and other creep-tacular people that are either going to study me or try to kill me. so yeah." Cosima nudges Delphine back.

"true, perhaps we can find another lab to conduct the research that will save you and your sisters."

"Hmm, Mrs. S might know or find somewhere for us to work." Cosima turns to Delphine, propped up on her elbow to gaze into the eyes of her fiancé. Cosima saw the love she felt reflected back at her from the brown eyes gazing back at her own. Delphine thought about the past few weeks and months and about how much had changed in such a short time. How many times can a heart break before it can't be mended again? Delphine knew that if she lost Cosima that would be the end of her as well, the disease that was in her genetics would continue to test them and if they wanted to win against it and save Cosima and her sisters. A miracle would be appreciated at any time, really. Delphine had lived without Cosima for as long as she could, she had a few slip ups that saved her from certain insanity. The stolen kisses and the, at times close, proximity that she had to Cosima from her working at DYAD with Scott were the only things that kept her going day to day. The photos of her with Shay nearly broke her along with the threat of Cosima's resignation but the hope she had that Cosima might still want her and love her with the little glances and touches she stole whenever she could. Delphine wrapped her arm around the waist of her beloved and pulled her close so that their bodies were touching from chest to toe though Cosima's toes only reached halfway down Delphine's calf, she looked into the eyes of her loved one and thought about how well they fit together like two pieces of a puzzles that she hadn't known existed. Cosima loved how close they were and relaxed into the embrace and began to kiss the neck of the blonde woman that pulled her closer again so that there wasn't even room for a molecule of air between them. Cosima was reluctant to let this go any further because she was worried about Delphine and how her body would cope until Delphine could sense her reticence and wrapped a leg around her thrusting into her, just a little bit.

"I won't break, you know?" Delphine tightened her hold on Cosima, with both the arm around her waist and the leg around her to bring them back together.

"You know that we don't have to, if you aren't feeling up to it? I'm not, like, expecting anything. I know that you must be in pain." Cosima softened the words with a kiss on the lips which Delphine soon took control the kiss and turned them both so that she was on top of Cosima, still connected.

Delphine moved her lips to Cosima's neck and started to nibble and suck at the delicate skin above the carotid artery. Cosima moaned slightly at the contact and took a steadying breath before speaking again.

"I will take that as you are feeling better." Delphine laughed against her neck while she moved lower. Cosima tried to steer the direction they were taking by trying to roll them but Delphine remained certain.

"Non, let me. S'il vous plaît." Delphine said as she kissed lower once again.

They both laid there on the bed, sated after a passionate encounter, next to each other. Cosima had intertwined their fingers and was playing with Delphine's hand when she began to cough in earnest. Cosima released Delphine's hand to push herself into a sitting position to be in a better position to cough deeply so that the urge to cough would go and she could breathe once more. She continued to cough until one last hack brought up a chunk of blood that would concern anybody even if they hadn't been her doctor. Delphine sat up and placing a hand on Cosima's back, a look of grave concern on her face.

"Cosima, you did not say that it was like this again. We need to move fast, I won't lose you."

"You won't lose me." Cosima said even though she had no idea if what she was saying was true or not. "I won't leave you. I'll call Sarah and we can set something up. For now, I just need some rest and you." She smiled at the concerned woman and pulled her into a hug. The blonde relinquished her stance and allowed herself to be pulled into an embrace and they fell back to the bed, wrapped around each other once more.

 _Mon cher = my dear_

 _mon amour= my love_

 _Im not sure how often these updates will come, uni has started again and its pretty full on but i will try to get them to you fortnightly if not weekly.  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Progress and Setbacks

It took longer than Cosima would have thought for Mrs. S to organise her a lab to work in, not that she didn't have a lot to deal with. Cosima focused her attention to Delphine who was getting physically stronger and healthier each day and trying to ignore the fact that she could feel herself getting worse almost by the hour at this point. The lab was set up in some remote area of Canada, Cosima didn't know how Mrs. S even managed to get this together but Cosima was not going to question it. Delphine recovered for two additional weeks after coming to the apartment before Cosima was happy to move her to where it was that Siobhan had set up the lab. Scott had also been recruited to help Cosima and Delphine with the cure for Cosima and her sisters.

The work was slow and Cosima was getting frustrated easy, Delphine was getting worried. She had noticed a few things like Cosima coughing in the hallway or bathroom, appearing weary then when Delphine would look at her, she would make a big show of being energetic. Cosima was keeping her illness from Delphine and Scott, the only person who really knew how sick she actually was, was Mrs. S. Siobhan had taken in the clone, much like she had when Sarah was brought into her care so many years ago. Siobhan had taken to showing up at the lab throughout the day and night, if they had the stamina to continue into the night. Siobhan, like many others, was very concerned for Cosima. She had heard about how quickly she deteriorated before and how Kira's stem cells were the only thing that kept her alive last time. She used to dislike Cosima simply for her need of Kira's stem cells but as she had gotten closer to the clone, she had become part of her family. Her geek monkey as it was. She now loved Cosima as one of her own, much like Alison and Helena had been adopted by the Irishwoman.

Having Mrs. S around was like having a proper mother again, she brought food and sent us to rest and asked multiple times a day if any help was needed. Cosima hadn't seen her mother in years but that didn't bother her much, it was nice having a mother back in her life though. Cosima had taken to confiding in Siobhan how sick she actually was or how ill she thought she was as she won't run any tests in front of Delphine because she knew how the results would come back. Cosima having known the signs began to work harder and smarter to bet the sickness brewing inside her, invading every cell in her body until nothing healthy remained.

Cosima was making good progress on her treatment plan and thought that she had less than a week before she had it completed. Scott was helping Cosima in whatever way he could but some days would get more on Cosima's nerves than do anything productive. Delphine was trying, she still got tired easily even though the wound had healed and she was physically fine. Both Cosima and Delphine would have nightmares about that gloomy night over a month ago. Their nights were anything but restful, either they kept each other up or the nightmares would wake them not long into a restful sleep. Collectively, the scientists and their team were exhausted and frustrated with the disease that now was affected Alison. Alison had called Sarah worried about the symptoms she was having which reminded her that Cosima said she was having back months ago. Cosima was worried about Alison now having symptoms of the disease but knew she was already working as hard as she could to heal herself. She was running out of time and she needed to find the cure quickly or risk dying before being able to save her sisters as well as herself.

Scott and Delphine had gone out for food with Siobhan while Cosima stayed back at the lab, she said that she was on a roll with an idea but in reality, she didn't think she had the strength to go for a long walk. Cosima tried to work but rested her head down on the shiny table as she felt a wave of unsteadiness flood over her and could not stand to be upright at that moment. Cosima stayed like this for a while. She laid her head on the desk until she heard the door creak open and swiftly raised her head from the desk. Cosima knew the second that she did it, raising her head was a bad idea. She went from head on the desk to in the air then on the floor in a matter of seconds. Cosima crashed to the floor with a thud echoing off the walls and all through the lab. Delphine heard the roaring scream before she recognised it as herself screaming, she ran over to her love and pulling the small woman close, she watched her brown eyes roll back into her skull as she started to convulse. The blonde knew what she should do as a doctor and did everything she could remember but as the woman who loved Cosima, she struggling to comprehend the image in front of her, the small brunette on the floor convulsing as she had at DYAD not too long ago. Delphine didn't notice the tears streaming down her cheeks or the strangled cry escaping her, her only focus was Cosima. Cosima stopped convulsing and Delphine pulled her into her arms.

"Don't leave me, Je t'aime." Delphine held her close as she whispered firmly in Cosima's ear.

Delphine watched on as her love's chest rise and fall with every shallow breath her body struggled to take. Every beep of the heart monitor echoing the beating of Delphine's own heart, Delphine sat by the bedside clasping the hand of the small woman that was unconscious on the bed. The longer it was that Cosima was unconscious, the more worried Delphine became. It had been 27 hours and 57 minutes since Cosima had fallen to the ground in convulsion, a grand mal seizure, Delphine had been told by the physicians that Mrs S had found. Delphine was reluctant to trust anyone but where Cosima's health was concerned, she knew that she could treat her herself so must rely on the help of others and trust that Mrs S found trustworthy people. Delphine hadn't left Cosima's side for more than 3 mins of that time, she watched Cosima as if her gaze was the thing that was keeping Cosima breathing. The blonde woman's eyes were getting heavy and the harder she tried to keep them open, the heavy her eyes became. Her eyes slide shut for just a moment or two.

*BEEEEEEEP*

The loud persistent beeping of the heart machine startled Delphine into consciousness, she jumped out of her chair as she screamed for someone to come help. This was it, the woman she loved, her heart had gone into cardiac arrest and she was going to lose her.

"COSIMA!" The french woman screamed at the unconscious woman as if this could save her from death.

 **Sorry this has taken so long, Work and Uni has knocked me around and left me with no time to write. I already have the idea for the epilogue so it shouldn't be too long for the last instalment of this story.**


	8. Chapter 8

Epilogue

Delphine drags herself through the front door to the place that she used to call home. The day has been draining. In fact, the whole week has been a horrible time. Watching a person that you love die is one of the worst thing that you can experience and what is even worse is going to the funeral and returning home to find that you will no longer see them around the house, never hear them in the morning making coffee, never have another phone call from them telling you that they love you and can't wait to see you. Delphine thought of all the things that see would never do or have happen as she collapsed on the couch that not too many days ago held the one that she loved. She will be leaving for the airport soon, returning home now that the funeral was done and the week had ended and her flight was approaching fast, faster than she anticipated. She thought that she would have more time here, more time to say goodbye to the place she called home but the time had come. She was running out of time to get home, she needed to be back where everything was good and she can remember what is was like to be in a place of love and acceptance without the pain of this loss. A car honked out the front, Delphine split the blinds to see that the car was the taxi she had called to take her to the airport. She gathers her bags and locks the front door as she leaves.

Delphine arrives after a long flight and is even more exhausted then when she left. She stands waiting at the pick up bay, Siobhan said that she would be there to get her and take her back to her apartment. She spots S pulling up and she hefts her bag onto her shoulder as she walks towards the car. Delphine sits in the passenger seat of the car and lent her head against the headrest, closing her eyes and breathing a heavy sigh of finally being back at home.

"How was your flight, chicken?" Mrs. S said as she pulled out onto the highway.

"Fine." Delphine replied without feeling. Siobhan must have recognised that Delphine didn't want to talk and said nothing for the remainder of the trip.

The next thing Delphine knew, the trip was over and she was once again at home. The one place her heart aches to be back at the place that she and Cosima got when they decided to get somewhere together where they could be alone without Felix or someone interrupting them all the time. Delphine dragged herself out of the car, ignoring the calls of assistance from Siobhan. Delphine waved behind her and shoved the front door open. She makes it barely two steps before getting bowled and landing on her back with someone on top of her, wrapped around her, holding tight. Well, holding her as tight as she could with the large bump between them.

"Why did you away so long? Do you want to come home to me?" Cosima said as she buried her head in the hollow of Delphine's neck, kissing the soft skin.

"I'm sorry _mon amour_. I had to stay and make sure that _maman_ was coping now that _p_ _è_ _re_ is gone." She whispered and breathed in the sweet scent of her love, pushing to a sitting position still keeping Cosima wrapped around her. "Oh, I missed you so much."

"Obvs, I know, I missed you like, way more." Cosima said as she moved her hands to cup Delphine's face and pull their faces together until the air between was less than a hairs width. The time that they had spent apart was far too long and the pair struggle to be without the other. Neither was sure who closed the gap between them but there was no room for anything between them. By the time, the two pulled apart they were both breathing heavily. Cosima was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry I couldn't go with you. I missed you and I wanted to be there for you."

"I know but you were here, looking after our _b_ _é_ _b_ _é_ _. Y_ ou might not have been there but you were there for me every step of the way."

"I know, I have been feeling your baby kicking like, all the time and none of my clothes fit." Cosima whined a little looking down. Delphine smiled and kissed her little wife.

"I know, _mon cher_. I see that you took liberty of my wardrobe while I was away."

"Well, I won't apologise for being a whale. Whose great idea was it to have me carry our baby?" Cosima asked getting slightly agitated at life.

"Hey, don't bite my head off. You are healthy and have gained a suitable amount of wi and you were the one that said you should carry our baby." Delphine responded quickly knowing that if she let Cosima go, she would continue on this rant for hours.

"Oh yeah, bloody hormones affecting my entire body. Ehhhhhhhhh." Cosima huffs and turns to walk further into their house. Delphine follows close behind dragging her suitcases behind her. Cosima led the way to the bedroom, crashing on the bed. Delphine unpacked as Cosima watched on, when she finished she turned to see Cosima barely awake, rubbing her belly. Delphine joined her on the bed wrapping her arms around her and whispered in her ear.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well, you won't ever have to find out, will you?" Cosima asked poking her tongue between her front teeth and turning to look at Delphine.

"I don't know, will I?" Delphine asked back at the brunette.

"No, obvs. You are totally stuck with me, Mrs Niehaus."

"Happily stuck, Madam Cormier." Delphine stated back to Cosima.

 _mon amour = my love_ _b_ _é_ _b_ _é_ _.= baby_

 _mon cher = my dear_

Thanks to all of you for reading this, I have enjoyed writing this story. This is it for this story, thanks again for those who have read from the start.


End file.
